The glow of the moon from outside illuminates the floor through my tightly sealed windows. I can faintly see a shadow as I look down. It is the shadow of a young woman. Her silhouette moves closer and I can see her more clearly. And the voices are back; I can hear them ringing garishly in my ears. I shudder and I can feel my heart thrashing in my chest. These are the voices that have haunted me for so many years now and they are back to torture me some more. Why? Why must they choose me? They have made me mad...so unbearably mad that they have put me in this mental institution, a place I consider an inescapable prison. I try to rack my brain as to the reason until at last, the memory that had been hidden away with age resurfaces. And I will tell you the story behind it, if you will listen. It is the story of my beautiful Sapphira. But before I share it with you, I must make one thing clear...I am not utterly crazy. It is easy to believe I am so as I sit here within the walls of this asylum, but I am asking you to take this story as the truth and not the tale of an insane man, for I am certainly not one. So where were we? Ah yes, my beautiful Sapphira.
Though much time has passed since I last looked upon her face, I can still remember how her beauty radiated as she walked into a room, almost like an angel sent down from heaven. And I remember how much she loved me. We shared a love that was strong and one that most people do not know in their lifetime. Even during rough times, we knew that our bond could not be fragmented and we would make it through. However, it all changed soon enough. Sapphira and I had been married 10 years, long past the blissful honeymoon phase. Our daughter, Ruby, had just been born. We needed more money to provide for her and ourselves, so Sapphira had taken a new job over at the hospital as a nurse. She worked tirelessly from dawn until dusk, and some nights she would be gone so Ruby and I wouldn't see her until we woke the next day. I missed her constant presence. To pass the time, I would pick up a bottle of wine and sit stiffly on the couch drinking it. Before I knew it, one bottle would turn into two, three, four, and so on. I often forgot to keep track on how much I drank on a daily basis. When Sapphira came home every night at midnight, I would slur at her because of how drunk I was.
"It's like I don't even know who you are anymore." She would coldly remark at me. But I was so intoxicated, I did not care. Her eyes would burn into mine, and she would whip herself around and head upstairs to bed. Oh but before she could reach for the door, I would stop her and grab her by her arm and slap her numerous times. I still regret slapping her and leaving visible marks across her beautiful face. Then as time moved on, slapping her every night had become a habit of mine. Everyday I would wait for her to return, but recently I began to notice how she sometimes she came home earlier than other days and sometimes she came home late. I began to form curiousness to what was happening at her job. So one night I decided to follow her to her work to discern what she was doing. If I remember correctly that day, I had about 3 and half bottles of wine. As you can I was a little more than tipsy. That night, I put Ruby to bed early.
"Where are going, Papa?" she inquired with her big hazel eyes.
"Just meeting up with some old pals, that's all. Sleep tight, darling! Don't let the bed bugs bite you!" I lied. And with that I left the house empty handed and drunk- very drunk. When I finally reached the hospital, I saw white uniforms like Sapphira's everywhere. Which one was her? I began to wander around the busy halls. Then I saw her, my beautiful Sapphira, all in her glory, for the last time. I quickly hid behind a wall because I didn't want her to see me. I saw her walk into the room at the end of the hall with her notepad and stethoscope. Before she closed the door, I saw her looking out into the hallway, like she saw something or someone. Did she see me? hmm I don't know. I began to make my way towards the room that she was in. Once I got there, I started to look through window and I thought my eyes were deceiving me. She had a broad arm around her shoulder and they were making their way to the bathroom. I clutched onto the cold, steal handle. Is she cheating on me? I could not hold it in anymore. I barged through the door yelling,
"Sapphira!!" I howled. I could tell she looked terrified. I began to saunter towards her and the guy beside her. "You whore, who do you think you are cheating on me?" I began to curse at her.
"Thanatos, please, stop" she pleaded with tears in her eyes. But I didn't listen to her, I began to pace around the room cursing at her, till I found a knife. I took possession of it and turned around really fast and laughed an evil laugh. Then I began making my way to her. She looked horrified and the man beside her looked even more scared. Without warning I began stabbing the man multiple times, with Sapphira trying to stop me. She screamed and screamed but I didn't stop. Then I elbowed her making her head go back and hit the wall. She slowly collapsed onto the floor and she stopped screaming. I turned around to look at her, only to find that she was reaching for the door. I swiftly made my way to her and got a hold of her. I could see the fear in her eyes. But that didn't stop my drunk self... and with one fatal stab in her heart, I killed my beautiful Sapphira.
"Thanatos..." a beautiful voice interrupts my thoughts. I knew who's it was, it was Sapphira's.
"Thanatos... open your eyes!" she sang again.
"Sapphira? Is that you?" I ask opening my dreary eyes. But I don't see her, I begin to look around the room. While searching for her, I spot something gleaming on my dinner table. I hastily run over there and pick it up. It is the same knife that I had used to kill my Sapphira. What is it doing here? Then a shadow appears on the other side of the table. It was Sapphira.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked
"What do you mean?" I ask, hoping for an answer. She laughs devilishly for a moment. But she doesn't say anything, she vanishes into thin air. Just as she disappears, I begin to get visions - visions of my death. But only this time they weren't just visions that I could see but visions that I could feel. I tried to regain my balance and tried to snap out of the visions, but I couldn't. What's happening to me? I tried to call for help, but I couldn't talk. In corner of my eye, I could see a person dressed in black, with an axe coming towards me. I tried to run but my legs failed me. I began to choke on air, as if someone was trying to suffocate me. I began coughing, coughing out blood onto the floor. The world spun around me, I couldn't keep up. As I fell into an unconscious state, I heard the man say,
"You're coming with me."
